Purple Rage
by Raymond Manzarek
Summary: The gang go out on a hiking trip. But not all goes to plan. Rated T for some language.


**Hello everybody out there in the fanfiction community. My author's name is Raymond Manzarek, a name from a member of one of my favorite Los Angeles rock band The Doors; who's lead singer/performer Jim Morrison reminds me of Blu because of the way they both dance it makes me wonder if that's how BlueSky Studios came up with Blu. I am an enormous fan of the movie Rio, I'm a timid kind of person which is why I've waited so long to work up the courage to join the Rio community. I've been reading great stories and seeing all reviews to know what fans thoughts and interests are and taking an interest myself on the subjects. One particular subject which has drawn my attention particularly about Rio, about a band called The Rascals, of which has earned my deepest admiration because their music is everything I love about Rio. My favorite songs in particular are 'Nubia'(**_which sounds very Brazilian)_** – 'A Beautiful Morning' – 'Groovin'. I am open to any kind of comments since I've learned from a good author to take it as it comes and keep on going. This story is still in progress so chapters will go by on a monthly basis, I am open to any suggestions from anyone including FanfictionGuy. So here I go…**

_**Monday, January 5**__**th**__** –**_

_It's been a nice few months since Jewel and I decided to move to the Amazon. You could probably make the assumption that there's not much to do around here for a city bird like myself, but eventually you make the habit of making things happen. Honestly it's not half bad living here, most of my friends back north boast about a lifestyle so luxurious like a room all to themselves, a will, or their own private set of furniture that their humans give them. That used to be me, but now I'm starting to see things in a different light, for one I own my own home here in the Amazon, something I took by myself that I can be master of. In a large sense it makes me feel like a man already; my kids each have their own private spaces that aren't cluster phobic like our old tree house, and they like it here. The twins sleep beside the foot of our bed, until they're old enough they'll be able to sleep in their own spaces, at just a few months old they need their mom and dad with them. My wife and I have our little nest just big enough for the two of us, and just outside I have my own little garden that I'm really proud of. Gardening; once you make a habit of it, really occupies your time and you find a sense of self worth out here. Bia and Jewel love to help and it's a nice way to bring the family together, but lacking much space I decided to give Jewel her own garden, she grows flowers while I grow fruit and everybody's happy. Yeah, I guess I do owe it to Jewel, I mean experiencing the kind of air out here I've become more independent and I've felt more mature to make the right decisions, most of my life I haven't and when I have made any they've always turned out wrong and affected as well as hurt my friends and my family; Jewel used to tell me that I think too much when I'm really not thinking at all, sadly she was right about that, especially after realizing that abandoning my own flesh and blood doesn't solve anything. But we've moved on together, and things have picked up ever since._

_ Just a few weeks ago Jewel and her father along with a few scouts went on a foraging trip… god only knows how long they'll be gone, Roberto's been in charge ever since. He does a good job of it but sometimes Mimi or Jewel have a talk with me that my father in-law has deep considerations for me in the future. It's a nice thought but I doubt if it's anything to build on, right now my main concern is taking care of Bia, Carla, and Tia-_

"Yoink," a feisty little chick swiped his leaf from his wings.

Blu immediately grew frustrated with his son interrupting him while he was in the middle of writing.

"Tiago!"

Tiago scattered in all directions narrowly avoiding his dad's clutches. Tauntingly reading his leaf-made journal at the same time.

"_It's been a nice few months since Jewel and I decided to move to the Amazon,"_ he read "_my kids each have their own private spaces that aren't cluster phobic like our old tree house, and they like it here_. Aww, dad you do care," he teased.

Blu was through fooling around; with an aggressive move he swiped his son from the air with both wings.

He swiped his journal back with his foot "Give me that!"

Blu perched Tiago firmly on his feet to take a good look at him. He was anything but happy at the moment, and Tiago could see it plain in his fiery chocolate eyes once Blu stuck his face near his.

"Why do you always give your dad a hard time?" Blu demanded.

Randomly, Tiago kissed the tip of his beak for his own amusement.

His little beak curved into a grin "That's why,"

Rather than continue being upset Blu rolled his eyes with contempt. Instead of arguing he sat himself down and continued writing in his nest with his feet.

But Tiago wasn't through having fun, he popped up from behind his father's shoulder to see him write. After a few moments he plucked a feather from his head and began tickling the side of his father's cheek with it.

At first Blu averted the notion, but eventually it was getting too in his face, knocking off his concentration.

"Will you quit it!"

"Sorry daddy-o"

All the fuss stirred his two youngest chicks awake. They got up from their weary nap with a little whining, this totally knocked Blu off his concentration.

With that he put down his materials to get out of his nest and tend to his two youngest boys. Scooping both of them up in his wings Blu coddled them as well as rocking and a gentle patting of the back to ease their tempered little souls.

After a few moments they stopped their fussing, the first little one let out a cute yawn and managed to pry open those sapphire blue eyes of his to take gaze at the bird holding him.

Blu was content with the situation handled. He fixed his eyes on his oldest son he started the whole thing.

"Tiago isn't there some other place you could be for a few hours. What happened to your friends Dino and Eddie?"

"I've had as much fun as I could handle with them. Besides I wanna be with you dad,"

Blu averted himself to place the twins back on their soft cushy moss bed beneath his nest. He tucked them in with a Banyon leaf they used as a blanket.

"What about your uncle Beto?"

His father picked up his journal and his feather dipped in red berry juice.

"He's not as fun as you are,"

That's when Blu's daughter's had finally arrived home.

"Hi dad,"

"Aw heck," he covered his weary head with his materials "Alright fine," he got up and filled in the last words of the sentence "_G-O_ period. What's up?"

"The flower festival," Bia said.

"The what?"

"The flower festival," Carla emphasized "Don't you remember?"

"Felipe said they were going to host one in honor of the peace we started between the two tribes. Everybody's getting started on it, though it's too bad mom and grandpa aren't going to be here when it happens,"

"So what do you want me to do about it?"

"Dad," Carla complained "You're supposed to be there with us, not just that but every kid's gonna offer the best flower they've got to Felipe's family and they're going to judge which one is the best. Winner gets theirs to be the center piece of the whole festival,"

"Yeah c'mon,"

They grabbed Blu by the wings to go out into their flower garden. When they got there they weren't too pleased by what they saw.

All their precious work, their tulips, their lilies, their buds, all wilted. It didn't seem like they had much to offer.

"Look at this," Carla walked all over the mess of flowers "We're never going to win like this, how the heck did this happen?"

Bia was equally puzzled by all this "I mean determining the right ph level for each bud and pedal, not to mention I knew the right amount of H2O it would take to photosynthesize, and the soil was healthy enough for the essential nutrients they needed,"

"And did you do all those things?" asked her father.

Bia thought about it for a bit, fading into an innocent expression she looked in the opposite direction "Well, uh , mom did all that for me I just supervised,"

"Yeah but while mom's been gone who was taking care of the flowers?" her sister asked.

"There's a very logical explanation for that,"

"Aw forget it," Tiago kicked the flowers "This sucks,"

"Hey, now what kinda attitude is that?" said Blu "So we lost a few pedals here and there, c'mon there's got to be a chance for you kids to still compete," he gathered all three chicks with his wings "C'mon now let's think of something,"

"Forget it dad," Bia sighed "Even if we could save the flowers, a week isn't enough time to grow the perfect one that would help us win,"

"May as well just stay inside for that time and forget about the whole festival," said Carla.

"Oh no you won't. Nobody's gonna jerk around and do nothing, I'm supposed to take care of you and we're going to keep ourselves busy until your mom gets home,"

"Well what're we supposed to do about this?" Tiago asked him.

Blu thought for a bit until the answer finally lolled into his brain "We're going hiking,"

"What?" they asked.

The following morning everyone got up bright and early to start a new adventure. Although Blu hadn't fully explained the extent of his plan on the family excursion.

He made sure to get up bright and early before his kids to prepare their breakfast for them. Taking the essential things they'd need, his journal, and a sackcloth made out of firm leaves to carry the twins around his back.

By the time the sun rays hit Blu was up before his children. He had been working on something the whole night to prepare them for their hike. Once they were up they had their breakfast, a share of mangoes, crickets, and berries. Afterwards they met up with their father.

"Remind me again what we're doing and why we're doing this," Carla wondered while her father was fastening these decorative leaf ornaments around each of their necks.

"You're scouts," Blu explained "and as scouts we're going to hike around the Amazon until we can find the right flower. And it's good to take some time together for a few days, and we'll be back by the time the flower festival starts,"

"Sounds cool," Tiago commented.

"Your parents ever take you hiking dad?" asked Bia.

That was an unnecessary subject for Blu, not one he was proud to bring up. So he decided to make up a lie about it.

"Uh y-yeah, my dad took me hiking all the time when I was your age,"

"How come we don't see him much?"

Asked Tiago but before he could go any further Blu fastened the sash around his waist too tight to keep him from asking any further.

"Okay we're all set. Got my journal here, now let's say bye to home before anything else happens,"

"Bye tree," Bia waved.

"Bye nest," Carla waved.

"Bye crummy garden," Tiago waved.

Blu smacked him upside his head for that insinuating comment.

"Aw," Tiago complained.

"Okay, that's said and done, now let's get flapping,"

However their plans were cut short once Blu turned around. His beak was met smack with another female macaw, Blu automatically flinched back reverting to the spot between his children. The two were embarrassed, she was a scarlet macaw, one could easily note at the aura of different colors on her wings and the red that coated her sleek body. She was also a very young macaw like Blu, he noted.

"Sorry," they both apologized.

"I uh," they continued this way "I didn't mean to, no you go on first. Well if you insist, no you go on first,"

"I'm Blu,"

"I'm red,"

"Is that a joke?"

"I don't follow,"

"Sorry, where are my manners," Blu flustered himself.

"We're losing you dad," Tiago teased him "Keep blushing and you'll be joining Felipe's tribe,"

The girl held out her wing to him "I'm Gloria,"

"She's cute," Tiago whispered.

Blu muttered beneath his beak while still looking at Gloria "_Carla_…"

Bia smacked her younger siblings' head for her father. Tiago complained once more.

"_Thank-you,"_ Blu gladly shook wings with her "I'm Blu,"

Gloria squinted "Wait a second, aren't you the bird?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Yeah. Yeah you're that kid my dad was talking about, the one that saved all of us,"

"Who's your father again?"

"I'm bored," a scarlet chick was complaining from behind her, kicking the dirt.

"Oh that's right, that's why I'm here. You see your little friends over told their friends about the hiking trip you guys were taking. And since you're babysitting, once word got around a few of the parents thought it'd be really thoughtful of you if you were to look after their kids while they're busy making the festival happen,"

Blu was dumbfounded "I am?"

"Thank-you so much," Gloria shook his wing profoundly "You don't know how much this means to us…"

"You have no idea," Blu said dumbly.

"…I mean juggling their families and the festival is hard enough as it is. And I know just how much they appreciate this, especially my father,"

"Who is…"

"Can we go now," the little chick tugged on her wing.

"Alright then," she let him free "Felix, be on your best behavior,"

"Sure thing sis,"

"Just how many kids are we talking about anyway?" Blu wondered seriously.

That's when all the families came fluttering in one after the other. Coming in as both blue and red, each one more than eager to drop their children off. Blu couldn't believe his luck, he tried desperately to get a word out but everybody was in such a hurry through a mess of anticipation.

First they dropped off their young to shove them in to the rest of the crowd of kids, after that they said their goodbyes then humbly thanked Blu for his inadvertent generosity. Shaking his wing in the same manner as Gloria and flying off before he could make his protest.

"Thank you,"

"But I…"

"We really appreciate this,"

"Thanks but…"

"My wife and I thank you,"

"Oh no really,"

After a while he was getting bored, by now all the parents were gone and he was up to his neck in chicks both blue and red. Swirling by the number, just as difficult to count as it was to establish any kind of order.

Just my day, he thought to himself.

"Alright you stand there,"

The chick bit his wing.

"Ouch…okay now _you_…"

Another one plucked his feathers.

"Ouch,"

All chicks were having their time picking and plucking each other. Some would tug on the other's wings, other's would bite or scuffle, but Tiago had his fun plucking feathers of different colors. The rest would just argue or ramble on in an irritating kind of way.

"_Shud-up_!" Blu emphasized loudly.

That stopped them. Every chick just froze in their tracks to stare deadly at him.

"Get up here now, front and center!"

You wouldn't believe what the right firmness in a voice could do to a group of wild feathers. In an instant they were all flocking together, stumbling, shoving, and pushing each other.

It was all so fast that some kids managed to step on one another, once they picked themselves up they managed to make their lines and stick their beaks up straight.

Once things were relatively in order Blu proceeded to count after fixing the strap on his sack where he was carrying the twins.

"Two, four, six, eight, ten, twelve, fourteen, sixteen, eighteen, twenty, twenty-two, twenty-four. And baby makes two more," he patted his back.

After doing a recount he noticed one chick in particular was missing from the bunch.

"Alright where is he?"

The mischievous little Tiago appeared in front of the crowd; wearing his funky head dress made out of all the feathers he swiped. Dancing his hat off to the crowd.

"You rang sweetie," he joked.

All the kids laughed. But Blu was in no mood, he grabbed him seriously and shoved him back into the crowd while muttering a bunch of stuff.

"What're you doing get over there,"

Tiago was in line in front right between his sisters.

"And take that stupid hat off,"

Tiago obeyed "Yes father,"

Blu took one good long look at the crowd of kids standing beneath his feet. This wasn't the kind of adventure he was hoping for, it wasn't enough to lie to his kids about a fake trip he never had with his parents now he had a whole flock of feathered minors to look after for a whole week.

From what it looked like they weren't off to a good start. To emphasize that point you could tell by the heads of kids who were either picking their beaks or dozing off into dead space.

But he was going to be firm about this regardless.

"We're going to get one thing straight here and I'm only going to say this once and if you forget then that's your parents' fault for not teaching you to behave any better…We're stuck with each other for a week," 

Bia butted in "Actually the approximated time since this morning estimates to about 12 hours six days 198 minutes and 45 seconds. 44 seconds, 43 seconds, 42…"

Blu let out a loud piercing whistle that stunned everyone.

"That's for whenever anybody starts acting up and disobeying, now I'm not going to mention any names in particular…Tiago…I want you to know that I'm not the one responsible for you. We're _all _responsible for each other, we have to look out for each other, so for the next week we're going to be pals, we're going to have fun. And if you don't like it it's your ass or mine,"

Blu covered his face with his wings for that last immature comment that was a little too mature for this audience.

"Mister Gunderson?" Felix raised his wing "What does ass mean?"

"Nothing," Blu sighed "and please, mister Gunderson is my father's name,"

"Where is your father anyway?" asked a little girl.

"Skip it *cough* ahmm, like I've mentioned, I've done this plenty of times with my parents so there's nothing I can't handle but as long as there's a few extras we'll have to depend on one another if we're going to make it. So everybody," he clapped his wings "pair up, c'mon c'mon,"

And that's just what the kids did, each one selecting the right partner to take with them following suit. Bia paired with Felix, Tiago paired with his Dino and Eddie, and Carla paired up with Nico and…

"Pedro!"

That's when the famous feathered friends introduced themselves "Hey what's up Blu buddy,"

They introduced themselves to the crowd. This was a puzzler for Blu.

"What're you guys doing here?"

A wing placed itself on his shoulder "There's my little boy Blu,"

Blu flinched a few centimeters in the air, that's when he realized..

"…Rafael, and…Eva," he noticed.

"Okay what's this all about?"

"We heard about your little journey you were taking your kids on. The guys filled us in on it,"

"Well at least I know who to blame for that one," Blu glared at Carla.

She stood there all innocent.

"What about _your_ kids, did you ever stop to think on that?"

"Amigo, you forget we raise our kids properly, our oldest take care of the youngest and it gives us space to be with our favorite pals,"

"So you just left your kids to look out for each other to spend time with all us others that add up to twice the number of kids you have back home?"

"That and we love you," Eva pinched his beak "Besides, take it from a pair of birds who've been around a large cluster of children, you need us,"

He had to admit she had a point there, his wings were full enough as it was, Eva gladly took his twins from off his back into her wings to relieve him of the strain.

"And a nice stroll around the wilderness is a nice way to bring us all together, exploring, snacking, sharing stories and singing uplifting songs together," that's when she broke out that notorious voice of hers "_So nice, life would be so nice, if one day I find, someone who would take my hand and samba through life with meeeee…"_

Something like that turned out worse than Blu's whistling and put a total strain on everyone. Rafael enjoyed it while Blu only listened with a slump face.

"Aw Jesus," he muttered.


End file.
